^aDepartment of Political Science and Research Methods, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, Enschede 7500 AE, The Netherlands. E-mails: c.w.a.m.aarts@utwente.nl and j.j.a.thomassen@utwente.nl

Abstract

Elections in the Netherlands in the period 1989–2006 have shown major changes in the supply of political parties and at some points a very large volatility of results. We describe these developments against the background of theories of dealignment and realignment. Specifically, we focus on the alleged rise of a new 'cultural' dimension of political conflict in Dutch politics at the level of the electorate. We show that the electorate's position on political issues representing the traditional conflict dimensions (left–right, religion) has been relatively stable. Since the early 1990s, new political problems have become salient for the voters. Sympathy for political parties can be modelled by three dimensions (authoritarian–libertarian, left–right, religious) which are related to the voters' positions on political issues. These positions on issues representing traditional and new political conflict dimensions also affect voting behaviour for traditional and for new political parties.